Mode of making sugar



(No Model.) 42 sheets-sum1 W. LITTL-EJOHN. MODE 0F MAKING SUGAR.

No.` 250,824. Patendl Deo. 13,1881..

N. Puras Pnwumognpher. vlamingen, ac.

(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet X2.

WA. LITTLEJDHN. MODE 0F MAKING SUGAR.

N0'. 250,824. Patented Deo.13,1881.

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W'ILLIAM LITTLEJOHN, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

IVIODE OF MAKING SUGAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 250,824, dated December 13, 1881.

Application filed November 10, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, WILLIAM LITTLEJOHN, acitizen of the United States, residing at New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Mode of Making Sugar, of which the following is a specification.

The improvements which I have made relate, first, to the mode of testing the sugar-cane juice for determining the amount of lime which should be placed in the same for the purpose of clarifying it; second, to a mode of bleaching the sirup produced from the clarified juice.

.Y The object of my invention is to manufacture with simple apparatus and means sugars which are of a superior quality.

lJhe nature of Inyinvention will be fully understood frornthe following specification and accompanying drawings, in which latter- Figure 1 is a front elevation and partial section of a sugar-making apparatus which is adapted forv carrying out-my invention. Fig. 2 is a top view of the same. Fig. 3 is a top view, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of the apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and2, the wall of the buildin gbeing shown in horizontal section; and Fig. el is a side elevation and partial section of the parts shown in Fig. 3.

A in the drawings shows the sugar-canejuice box, provided with the usual dischargepipe, a, and shut-offcock b. This box is also provided with another pipe, o, having a cock, d, for a novel purpose, as will be presently described.'

B is a small pan, provided with a steam-coil, f, upon its bottom, which coil is connected by a pipe, ff, with the ordinary steam-pipe, C, ot' boilers D D.

E E E2 E3 E4 represent ordinary kettles, in which the cane-juice is boiled.

F is the receiver for the sirup from the battery-kettle E4. Above the receiver F the siruptank G is placed, and to this tank the sirup is elevated from the receiver by means of a pumping apparatus, H. The sirup-tank G is provided with a discharge-pipe, g, having a cock, g', and by means of this pipe the sirup is discharged into the finishing-pan I.

With an apparatus such as I have represented I proceed to make sugar as follows: The juice-box A, being of a capacity to hold, say, about five hundred gallons of sugar-cane j uice,is supplied with that quantity of bleached sugar-cane juice. Into this juice, for the purpose of clarifying it, I pnt about thirty cubic inches of lime, which is about iive or ten cubic inches less of lime than experience has shown to be the amount usually found necessary to effect the perfect clarification of that quantity of juice. The lime having been thoroughly mixed withy the juice, I next let oft' from the juice-box a quantity of the juice-say about two gallons-into the pan B, and at the same time turn on the steam into the coilfat the bottom of said pan. As soon as the juice in the pan boils and the scum which rises is skimmed off, I take out a small quantity ot' the same in a testing-glass, and by occular inspection determine what additional quantity of lime is probably necessary to effect the desired clarification of the cane juice in the juice-box. I then add, say, about ive or more cubic inches of lime to the juice in the said box. Having thoroughly mixed the added lime with the juice in the box A and drawn off the small quantity which was used forthe first test, I again discharge from the juice-box into the pan a like quantity as before, let the steam into the coil, allow the juice in the pan to boil, and then testthis juice as before, and if it still is found not perfectly clarified I add an additional quantity of lime-say three or more cubic inches-to the juice in the juicebox, and mix the same thoroughly with the juice. rlhis done, another quantity of juice from the juice-box may be let into the pan, boiled, and tested, as before, (two tests, however, are generally sufficient for the purpose,) and if at this or any test the juice is found perfectly clarified the cock of pipe ci is opened and the juice passed into the train of kettles E E E2 E3 E4, or open pans, if used, boiledin the usual manner, discharged in to the receiver F, and elevated in the form of sirup into the Sirup-tank G by the pumping apparatus H. When the sirup is in the tank an inspectionis made as to its quality or color, and if it is found that it is 'not suficiently bleached, (which is generally the case,) so as to make choice sugar, I put in a proper quantity of bisulphite of lime, and after the same is'thoroughly incorporated with the sirup I test the color of the sirup again in a glass vessel, and if found not sufficiently bleached add an ad- IOO ditional quantity of the bisulphite of lime. Once, however, is generally sufficient. Having thus ascertain ed that the sirup is perfectly bleached, l pass it off into the finishing-pan I, and the sugar made from the sirup will be found to be of choice or superior and uniform quality.

In the ordinary process of making sugaron plantations the cane-juice, as it comes from the mills, is bleached either by passing sulphur-gas through it, or by mixing bisulphite of lime with it, and it flows into large juice-boxes or into iron defecators, (which are sometimes used and heated by steam,) and is thence drawn off into a range of iron-kettles of different sizes, usually five in number,heated by wood or coal fires, or, as is sometimes the case, into large open pans heated by steam, and in these kettles or pans it is cleaned of all 'impurities7 and concentrated into sirupvby boiling; but before it can be made into sugar, and before it is concentrated into sirup it must be clarified, and lime is used for that purpose by mixingit either with the juice in the juice-box or in the defecator, or in the first kettle of the ran ge; called the grand,7 which latter is the common plan, and the sugar-maker determines whether the juice is properly clarified by certain signs in the scum which rises to the surface when the juice is about to boil, which, itmay be said, is a very unsatisfactory and dilatory test, for if he does not hit upon the proper quantity of lime the first trial he makes several grands full of juice may be passed before he gets his lime all right, and in this way a good deal of bad sugar is made.

It is well known to sugar makers and planters that to make uniform good sugar more depen ds upon the proper clarification of the juice by lime than anything else, for an excess of lime will color thejuice and injure the quality of the sugar, and if less than is necessary for proper clarification is used, the juice cannot be cleaned of its impurities by any heretofore-known mode, and a bad character of sugar is the result.

It was the foregoing difficulties which led me to invent the modes hereinbefore described of testing the claried condition of the juice in the juice-box or defecator, and of bleaching the sirup in the Sirup-tank, which bleaching process enables the sugar-maker to so bleach his sirup and thereby overcome the difficulties experienced from an excess of lime or other causes in its clarification. My mode of testingthe juice is far better than the haphazard plan of determining the proper quantity of lime nec essary to clarify cane-j uice heretofore practiced. It is certain and expeditious.

In practicing with myinvention Ihave found that the quantity of lime necessary for clarification varies according to circumstances, so that it is not the vsame at all times; and this being so, if the old plan is pursued, a large quantity of the juice will have passed into the grand, or the open pan, as the case may be,

Vhas been allowed to passinto the grand, or open pan.

It is evident that so small a quantity ofjuce as one or two gallons can be brought to a boiling-state several times-at least six-and an equal number of tests be made as to the clarified condition of the juice in about the time it would take a grand or defecator full of juice to boil. Thus, without much loss of time, and with no loss by reason of poor quality of sugar, the desired clarification can be effected.

In many instances sugar -juices from the same plantation vary so much in quality and color, either on account of soil in which the cane is grown or the manner in which it is affected by the cold weather or frosts, and from many unknown causes, that it is necessary, in order to effect perfect clarification, to provide for a speedy testing of the cane-juices several times before it is passed from the juice-boxes to the kettles. Therefore the great utility of my mode of testing with a small quantity before boiling must be seen.

Instead of first putting the bulk ofl lime into the juice-boxes and then boiling a portion of this partially-clarilied juice in the small testing-pan, a good result, but`not as good as that obtained from the mode described, might be secured by taking one or two gallons of juice from the juice-boxes before lime is mixed with it, then putting a proper quantity of lime, by measurement, in the testing-pan; then boiling this small quantity of mixed juice and lime in the pan and testing as to the clarified condition of the juice. Now, havin g ascertained that the juice is clarified, and knowing the amount of lime it requires for a given small quantity, multiply that quantity of lime with respect to a given largevquantity of juice in the juiceboxes, and mix the multiplied quantity with the juice in the boxes. I, however, prefer to first mix nearly the required quantity of lime with the juice in the juice-boxes, and then to test as often as necessary a small quantity of this partially-clarified juice after boiling it in the testing-pan.

It is a very important desideratum to have the juice clarified in bulk, for under the old' plan, when the demand for a supply to the kettles arrives, the juice must be passed along, whether fully clarified or not.

When sugar is made in kettles alone according to the common plan, and the cane has been windrowed, as described in my application filed November 7 1881, a uniform grade of sugar can be made far better than by the ordinary plan by adopting my mode of testing as to clariii cation of the juices, without the necessity of rei IOO' IIO

sorting to the bleaching of the sirup; but if, on

accountof carelessness and inattention of those in charge of the business, an excess of lime should be used, or from other causes the juices,

5 although properly bleached, should, when converted into sirup, appear more or less discolored, which is usually the case, then, in order to make sugar of a uniform grade and ranking as choice sugar, the cane must not only be to Windrowed and the red ends of such cane cut oit', as claimed in the aforesaid application, but

there must be a nishing-pan, to boil by means of steam, and two or more tanks, made of Wood or metal, into which the sirup made in kettles 1 5 or pans must be pumped, and there submitted to a bleaching process by mixing in an addif tional quantity of bisulphite of lime, as already explained, until the color, by occular test in a glass tumbler or other glass vessel, indicates 2o choice sirup, when it is ready to be passed into the nishing-pan and concentrated into sugar.

` I do not confine myself to any special mechanism whereby the sirup is conducted from lthe '2 5 j nice-tanks or defecators to the test-pan, as this may be accomplished by dipping thejuice out of the boxes or defecators and pouring it into the pan.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to 3o secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The mode herein described of e'ecting the clarification of sugar-cane juices, consisting in first mixing the major portion of lime with the bulk of juices in the j uice-box or def- 3 5 ecator, taking a small portion of this juice and boiling it in a test-pan, then placing this boiled juice in a glass vessel and ascertaining by occular test whether it is clarified, then adding an additional quantity of lime if found not claried, lthen again boilingta small quantity of 4o juice taken from the box or defecator and testing it in a glass vessel, and if not found claried then adding more lime to the juice in the boxes or def'ccators, and so on 'as circumstances require, or until perfect clarification is effected, substantially as described.

2. The test-pan provided with means Where-' by steam is circulated through it Without coming in contact with the juice, for the purpose of boiling sugar-cane juice Within the pan, such pan being used with the juice-tank or defecator of sugar-making apparatus, and the means for circulating' the steam and heatin g the juice being connected with t-he steam-boiler or steampipe of the boiler, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The mode of bleaching sirup, consisting in applying bisulphite of lime to the sirup in the Sirup-tank, then taking a portion of the Sirup from the tank and placing it in a glass vessel and ascertaining by occular test the color of the sirup, then adding more bisulphite to the sirup, if required, and so on until it is fully bleached and suited for making superior or choice sugar, substantially as and for the purpose described.

WILLIAM LITTLEJOHN.

Witnesses:

Roer. L. FENWIGK, B. GARLYLE FENWICK. 

